F1: Russell tops rain-hit opening Hungarian GP practice

Max Verstappen sat out the session, enabling Mercedes driver George Russell to top wet opening practice for the Hungarian GP.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

After the heavy rain shower that hit the track moved through, Russell turned a lap of 1m38.795s on Intermediate Pirelli Rain Tires to top McLaren Rookie Oscar Piastri by 0.359s.

Lance Stroll was third for Aston Martin, 1.218s behind.

Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top-5.

With Saturday and Sunday expected to be dry, setting the fast time on a wet track in Practice 1 is likely a complete waste of time.

Sergio Perez stuffed his newly upgraded #11 Red Bull RB19 into the barriers at Turn 5 on his first lap out and the Red Bull team is now scrambling to fix the car before Practice 2 at 11:00am ET.

Sergio Perez clips the grass and his FP1 ends in the barriers 💥#HungarianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/2sWABZXYQl

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 21, 2023

This trip to the tires just about puts an end to Perez’s time at Red Bull when his contract is up, which is unfortunate. Until the last handful of races he’s done as well, or better, than anyone against Verstappen.

The past six races, he has choked badly. Max Verstappen’s performance has demoralized him.

Just 13 drivers set times in a messy session, two red flags interrupting proceedings that were already disrupted by rain. More to come this afternoon, then, as everyone starts to make up for lost time.

Practice 1 Results